You will find quotations related to mathematics just below and at the bottom of this page. Each has inspired me to think of the mathematical experience in some new way.
The miracle of the
appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of
the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor
deserve. We should be grateful for it and hope that it will remain
valid in future research and that it will extend, for better or for
worse, to our pleasure even though perhaps also to our bafflement, to
wide branches of learning.
---Eugene Wigner, The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics
Office: Darwin 114I
Phone: (707) 664-2964
Dr. B.'s e-mail (bill.barnier@sonoma.edu)
I am teaching Calculus I (Math 161), Computing for Math and Science (Math 180), and Modern Algebra I (Math 320) during Fall 2008. By clicking on each link below you can gain access to the class syllabus as well as assignments and other material in pdf format.
| Class | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Math 161 | TR 5:00 - 6:50 | Dar 29 |
| Math 180 | TR 1:00 - 2:50 | Schultz 2010 |
| Math 320 | MW 2:00 - 3:50 | Dar 31 |
| Time | Place |
|---|---|
| M 1:00 - 1:50 | Darwin 108 |
| W 1:00 - 1:50 | Darwin 114I |
| TR 3:00 - 3:50 | Darwin 114I |
. . . a theorem as “the square of the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the sides” is as dazzlingly beautiful now as it was in the day when Pythagoras discovered it.
---Lewis Carroll
. . . the Theorem of Pythagoras is very surprising . . . [it] . .
. evokes no visceral memories whatever . . . Because the equation is
abstract and precise, it is alien. I can’t imagine what
such a thing could possibly have to do with right angles. So,
when the pall of familiarity lifts, as it occasionally does, and I see
the Theorem of Pythagoras afresh, I am flabbergasted.
--- from the book, The Non-Euclidean Revolution by Richard Trudeau
I advise my students to listen carefully the moment they decide to take no more mathematics courses. They might be able to hear the sound of closing doors.
---James Caballero
Descartes Tangent LinesLast revised on October 14, 2008